WHEN Emily Curtis fought off a rare cancer her family breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The germ cell cancer was not known for coming back.

But on April 16 barely a week after celebrating her seventh birthday Emily’s family received the devastating news that the disease had returned.

“The doctors said this cancer does not usually come back so really this should not be happening,” said mum Georgina.

Emily of Nunthorpe discovered she had germ cell cancer - a disease so rare that just 45 children a year are diagnosed with it in the UK - in February 2007.

As she runs round the garden with her sisters Kaitlyn, five, and Isabelle, one, and chatters about her favourite TV character, Sponge Bob Square Pants, her family are amazed by her energy and courage.

Georgina said if it was not for losing her hair no one would even know she was ill.

The Roseberry School pupil takes it all in her stride, even testing her own temperature to check she is OK before she carries on playing.

“We all fell apart but she’s stayed focused and never lost her sense of humour,” said her auntie, Penny.

“She’s been an absolute star.

“I can’t explain how it feels when you see her hooked up to all the wires and drips but even then she’s still making jokes like a trouper. She has a wicked sense of humour.”

Emily’s cancer went unnoticed until a lump appeared on her leg and then another on her back.

“By the time we knew what was happening she was rushed up to the RVI for treatment which was when our world fell apart,” said Penny, 31, of Great Ayton.

“She’s had it since the day she was born but we never knew.”

Georgina, 27, said: “It was awful. You tend to think the worst when you find a lump. It just makes you feel sick.”

Emily’s dad Lee, 35, said: “We went to James Cook and they sent us straight to the RVI. We drove to Newcastle and were there for 10 days. She had MRI scans, bone scans, CT scans and a biopsy. Then they started chemotherapy straight away.”

Emily had an operation to remove part of her coccyx and then went into remission.

For nine months her hair grew back and she only had to go to hospital for check ups.

“It was great but we were a bit apprehensive. We did not believe it had gone,” said Georgina, who gave up her job at Stokesley Taxis to care for her daughter.

“We were just getting back to normal. We knew it was not going to come back but then it did. It was absolutely devastating. We had been at Primrose Valley for her birthday the week before she was diagnosed.

“It was the first time she was totally happy. Then all of a sudden everything stopped.”

Emily is now having chemotherapy which is a lot harsher than last time but it still does not faze her. If she gets tired she simply takes a nap.

“I think she’s amazing,” said Georgina.

“She knows the chemotherapy is going to make her better. But she does not want to go to school now because she does not want people taking the mickey out of her hair.”

Lee, who works as a joiner, said: “Any infection and she has to go to hospital. If she has a temperature then we go straight to Newcastle for three days.”

Emily has four more chemotherapy sessions and another operation to endure before she will know if she has beaten the cancer again.

“It’s fingers crossed now,” said Georgina.

The charity CLIC Sargent has supported Georgina and Lee throughout everything. It provided them with a social worker and even paid the holiday at Primrose Valley.